Mini Book Review: Manjaveyil Maranangal(Malayalam)

Title: Manjaveyil Maranangal(Deaths in Yellow lights)
 Author: Benyamin(Benny Daniel)
 Originally published in Malayalam(2011)
 Publisher: D.C. Books
 Pages: 356
 Price:   INR 226/-
 Homeshop 18,DC Books
                          First Things first.I am not a great fan of Benyamin.Though I loved ‘Aadujeevitham’( Kerala Sahitya Academy Award 2009),his ‘Akkaporinte Irupathu Nasrani Varshangal’ made me mad.So I was a bit sceptical when I picked up his latest best seller,’Manjaveyil Maranangal’.The book turned out to be a half baked thriller and left me terribly disappointed.Manjaveyil Maranangal starts off (well) as a murder mystery,tries to be a historical fiction in the middle and ends up being none as it fizzles out with it’s weak/pathetic climax. 

                        Set In the small island of Diego Garcia,the book is basically the story of Christie Anthraper;the youngest descendant of the Anthraper clan.One day he witnesses a murder(in broad day light) only to realise later that the guy who got killed was none other than Senthil,his old school mate.Pretty soon he finds out that the authorities are trying to cover up the murder and trying to pass it off as a natural death.Meanwhile Christie’s girl friend also dies in an accident and he decides to go to her hometown(Udayamperoor) and meet her mourning parents. But little did he know what was in store for him!

                    What happened to Christie Anthraper?Who was Senthil and why was he killed?Why were the authorities trying to pass it off as a death due to 'Cardiac arrest'?Was Mervin’s death really an accident?The book tries to find out answers for all this but believe me,you are not going to get solutions for most of these even after  you have finished reading it.Agreed,the book is racy,has an interesting premise and gives a vivid description of life at Diego Garcia.But what is the point in wasting your time in a Crime thriller which leaves you with half a dozen un-answered questions in the end?
Rating: I am giving 2.25/5 for this half baked thriller.The climax disappoints big time!

PS: In a pre-climactic scene Christies’ dad is arrested and their house raided for planning a coup.But in the epilogue Anthraper family is seen reviving their plantation business in Etiopia.From where did the (already bankrupt) family get the funds for it,Mr Benyamin? 
PSPS: The book reminded me of T.D Ramakrishnan’s ‘FrancisItty Cora’ at times.The ‘Mariyam Seva’,’Raniyayi Vazhikkal’ scenes’ had a ‘korakku kodukkal’(Francis Itty Cora) hangover to it.

-nikhimenon

The Devotion Of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino

Author:  Keigo Higashino

Originally published in Japanese (2005)

Pages:378

Price:INR 350

Published by:Abacus for Hachette India

Source:Blogadda book review programme

               

                          The Devotion of Suspect X is a difficult book to review. After all ,what’s the point in reviewing a book which has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide till date?Millions of people can’t go wrong anyways,right?I was seriously thinking about buying this book when I chanced upon Blog adda’s announcement on this book being a part of their Book review programme.Thanks to the wonderful people at Blogadda that I am here reviewing this Japanese best seller by Keigo Higashino.            

                          Before proceeding to the review,let me make a small confession here.I am someone who totally hates Mathematics.(Confused?Read on,your doubts will be cleared as the review progresses!)

The Plot:  Ishigami is a Maths teacher who has a huge crush on his neighbour,the middle aged Yasuko,who works at Benten-tei,the shop which makes boxed lunches.Though she lives next door to him,the introvert he is,Ishigami doesn’t have the courage to express his feelings for her.One day her ex-husband Shinji Togashi turns up at her small apartment(where she lives along with her teenaged daughter),picks up a fight with her and ends up getting killed by the mother-daughter duo.Ishigami helps Yasuko and her daughter Misato to cover up the murder.Enter the soft spoken detective Kusanagi and his assistant Kishitani investigating the murder of Togashi .Kusanagi  has got an acquaintance in Yukawa(fondly referred to as ‘Inspector Galileo’),a brilliant Physics professor of Imperial university who helps him out when his investigations meet a dead end.But the twist in the tale comes when Ishigami turns out to be an old friend of Yukawa.The Devotion Of Suspect X is basically a cat and mouse game between Ishigami and the investigators.

The Characters: What I found brilliant about the book is how the lead characters were built-tangible and believable.The book offers a good character study.Instead of showering the reader with dozens of shallow characters (which is quite the norm with crime thrillers)Higashino  gives us a couple of well etched out,three dimensional characters  with the traits of each one of them getting revealed one by one as the story progresses.So in the beginning of the story we are introduced to Ishigami as a silent,meek school teacher who is too timid to express his love to his neighbour.Halfway through the story we realize that he is actually a Mathematical genius who couldn’t make it big in life.Though the  female lead,Yasuko gets side lined somewhere in the middle it’s heartening that she doesn’t end up as a mere prop.There is an element of mystery surrounding the character of Yukawa and there are instances in the story which make the reader doubt whose side is he really in.Another important character in the story is Kudo,the man who is romantically inclined to Yasuko.

The Writing:Though ‘TDOSX’ starts off in a predictable manner with clichéd situations and a pretty familiar story line leaving the reader with a sense of dejavu,the predictability wanes off once the first 30-35 pages of the book are done with.The act,the motive,the killer and the victim are all revealed in these initial pages.From then on, the pace picks up and the novel becomes a thrilling and exciting read.The book also gives an insight into the Japanese culture.So we get to know that Benten is the Japanese goddess of wealth and a Tatami is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese- style rooms.  A few Japanese words are also mentioned here and there but the translators have made sure that they don’t end up confusing the reader by throwing in too many of them.The book makes a couple of interesting observations as well(the ‘Mathematics-Treasure Hunt’ comparison was good) .The book is fast paced and packs in a lot of twists and turns.The climactic twist is nothing but terrific.

The Scenes which I liked the most in the book are-

1.The one in which Ishigami explains his student, Morioka the relevance of Integral and differential calculus by throwing in the example of motor cycle racers.

2.The scenes between Yasuko and Kudo.

What I didn’t like:

1.The first 30 pages of the book were boring and predictable.

The Final Verdict: On the whole,Keigo Higashino’s ‘The Devotion of Suspect X’ is a must read.I am giving 4.25/5 for this brilliant thriller.

This review is a part of Blogadda book review programme.

-reviewed by nikhimenon

                         

The Devotion of Suspect X - Keigo Higashino

THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X

ISBN - 978-0-349-13873-2
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2011 [after translation in English]
PAGES - 374
GENRE - Crime/Thriller
BINDING - Paperback
SOURCE - Blogadda

AUTHOR - Keigo Higashino

SYNOPSIS - [from the back cover]

Yasuko lives a quiet life, a good mother to her only child. But when her ex-husband appears at her door without warning one evening, her comfortable world is shattered.

When detective Kushanagi of teh Tokyo Police tries to piece together the events of that night, he finds himself confronted by the most puzzling, mysterious circumstances he has ever investigated. Nothing quite makes sense.

FL Speak - Possibly the best crime novel I've read after "The girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Its not surprising since people are comparing this Japanese author to Stieg Larrson.

However the main character in this novel is neither Yasuko nor the detective Kushanagi. Its Yasuko's neighbor Ishigami, a brilliant maths teacher. When Yasuko's ex husband returns one night and threatens Yasuko and her daughter, a fight erupts and Yasuko and her daughter end up killing the man. Ishigami, who has had a crush on Yasuko since she moved to their flat, offers his help.

And then he creates such an elaborate story and alibis that has the detectives baffled and his superiors astounded. Without speaking a lie, Yasuko and her daughter, build an alibi with the help of Ishigami. Meanwhile, clues emerge from the crime scene that leads the police elsewhere. But lack of possible endgame, brings the detective back to Yasuko. Even as their alibi's are held up under intense scrutiny, Ishigami prepares to lead a normal life.

Yasuko and Ishigami rarely talk, even after the incident. However, to know what's going on with the investigations, he calls up Yasuko every night and asks her about her day. The chance [200] meeting with Kudo, once a regular customer of the bar where Yasuko worked, brings out the jealousy in Ishigami and yet he never speaks his heart to Yasuko, content only with keeping her and her daughter safe. 

But the arrival of an old genius, Ishigami's classmate, Yukawa into the investigation brings a new twist. As the dominoes fall into place, even Yukawa's presence fails to solve the case. But slowly, as bits and pieces crack, Yukawa can only shake his head as the brevity of the crime becomes apparent. Yukawa becomes convinced that somehow Ishigami is involved in the case, while the police belives Yasuko to be the main suspect. As all the clues keep coming back to Yasuko and yet her alibi stands, the police turn their focus on Ishigami. But when Yukawa realizes what Ishigami has done, his only concern is saving his friend from the consequences that was to follow.

But not everything goes the way they are planned. And Isigami is faced with a situation where he must decide how to proceed and Yukawa should decide if he's willing to lose ishigami as a friend for the sake of an investigation or is he willing to lose his friend, the detective Kushanagi.

The beauty of the lie is that it isn't a lie. And everything else is built on that little truth no one knows about. But when the webs of deceit are laid bare, they are left with the sheer impossibility of brilliance of the plan.

The Devotion of Suspect X deals with the unflinching devotion and love a person can offer in the face of greatest extremities, of the impossible length a person is willing to go. Exceptional writing, the crime is committed in the first 20 pages. The rest of the book is about cracking the case for the detectives and misguiding the police with subtle truths by Ishigami.

Phenomenal work! You'll love it. Who says mathematicians are boring? This man will blow your mind off!

My Rating - 5 stars

PRICE - INR 350/-

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